Consul general celebrates adoption program, praises 'enduring love'

Since China opened its doors to the overseas adoption of Chinese children in 1992, about 100,000 children have been taken in by US families.

Around 2,000 Chinese children live in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

On Dec 5, Chinese Consul General Luo Linquan and his wife, Qiao Li, held a reception for 29 US families that took in children from China.

More than 30 children, along with their adoptive parents and siblings, gathered to celebrate their success.

During the annual event at the consul general's residence in San Francisco, Luo told the guests that he and his wife, the parents of a boy, deeply understand the difficulties of raising a child and thanked the US parents for their "enduring love and selfless devotion to the Chinese children, bringing them in with warmth and happiness".

Among them is Alicia Johnson, now 14, who was adopted when she was 11 months old by Gary Johnson, a director of corporate finance in the Bay Area, and his wife.

The couple also have a 27-year-old son.

"To me, adoption is all about the person who got loved inside, not the person we need outside," said Johnson. "The relationships that we build across the borders, across from the US to China, love will prevail."

The couple took Alicia on a cultural discovery trip to China two years ago to help her connect with her roots.

"I know it's important to learn about the culture and language," said Alicia, though she doesn't yet speak Chinese.

Qiao put it this way: "A Chinese saying has it: 'Love knows no boundaries.' What the American parents have done is a living example of this Chinese saying. Their compassion and love have changed the Chinese children's lives."

Luo also sent the children a special message: "You grow up speaking English, live in American families and have loving American parents. Yet your brown eyes, black hair and dark skin all remind you that you are Chinese.

"I want to let you know that China, your country of birth, never forgets you and will always miss you and welcome you. This means you belong to two families, and the love you have is double."

"When you grow up, I hope you will support and care for your parents in the same way. I also hope you will develop the Chinese spirit you were born with and keep learning the Chinese language. In this way, you will build bridges of friendship between China and the US with a cross-cultural background," Luo said.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, about 550,000 orphans lived in China in 2013. Overseas adoptions accounted for 3,230 of the total 24,460 families that adopted children.

Of the overseas applicants willing to adopt Chinese children, the majority are from the US.

Ken Yeung, founder of POP's Foundation, has helped more than 100 US families in the Bay Area adopt children from China since the early 1980s.

Yeung established the foundation in 1994 with the goal of helping abandoned and disabled children in China. Ten years later, he set up an orphanage in Tianjin - Prince of Peace Children's Home - with an investment of more than $1 million.

"The happiest thing for me is to see those abandoned children find a family and have a bright future," he said.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com